Week Six, Post Two (Synthesis & Connection)
During this period of time, there was a large exposure as to what the conditions within the prisons actually looked like. Naturally, along with these exposures came reform efforts. One of the best examples of true empathy-driven reform was in the case of Thomas Mott Osborne, the mayor of Auburn. He spent a week in prison under the name "Tom Brown" in 1912 and once he was done there, he took over a head position at the same prison, working as a progressive warden and to fix many of the issues he encountered himself. He is known for having the majority of his prisoners stay out of prison after release, meaning that he was able to truly achieve the rehabilitation portion that prions should be striving for.
Writing as a prisoner became extremely popular between the two world wars, and is know for truly exposing the inhumane conditions, and it became very similar to the slave narratives from a hundred years prior. In 1930, unfortunately, there was a wave of censorship, and to the government, a manuscript in an American prison was more dangerous than any weapon or drug. Between World War II and the beginning of the 1960s, however, there became a large public agreement that prison should exist to rehabilitate, not publish, While there was a large push for this though, there is still major debate over whether any reform actually happened. Chester Himes, known for his series of Harlem detective novels, served 7+ years in an Ohio prison and is now famous for his novel Yesterday Will Make You Cry. The book was not immediately received well, and Himes was criticized for being "too angry", and Himes moved to and lived out the rest of his life in Europe. However, his work was appreciated immensely throughout the sixties and was a crucial part of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement. Edward Bunker, known for his novel Education of a Felon used his writing to bring light to the inhumanness of solitary confinement in prisons. Lastly, Malcolm Braly, known for his novel On the Yard (1967) wrote about many different hardships that prison brought, ultimately establishing the fact that rehabilitation in prison was a joke. Rape was inevitable throughout every prison and could not be prevented, and he furthered by explaining that homophobic prisoners still performed homosexual acts as an act of dominance. He later explains, that no matter how prison is explained or reworded, it is still simply humans being put in cages.
When looking at the prison system as a whole, it is hard to see anything other than a sustained record of failure. In reality, the prison was never truly meant as a response to crime, but a mechanism for the containment and control of a people.
Writing as a prisoner became extremely popular between the two world wars, and is know for truly exposing the inhumane conditions, and it became very similar to the slave narratives from a hundred years prior. In 1930, unfortunately, there was a wave of censorship, and to the government, a manuscript in an American prison was more dangerous than any weapon or drug. Between World War II and the beginning of the 1960s, however, there became a large public agreement that prison should exist to rehabilitate, not publish, While there was a large push for this though, there is still major debate over whether any reform actually happened. Chester Himes, known for his series of Harlem detective novels, served 7+ years in an Ohio prison and is now famous for his novel Yesterday Will Make You Cry. The book was not immediately received well, and Himes was criticized for being "too angry", and Himes moved to and lived out the rest of his life in Europe. However, his work was appreciated immensely throughout the sixties and was a crucial part of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement. Edward Bunker, known for his novel Education of a Felon used his writing to bring light to the inhumanness of solitary confinement in prisons. Lastly, Malcolm Braly, known for his novel On the Yard (1967) wrote about many different hardships that prison brought, ultimately establishing the fact that rehabilitation in prison was a joke. Rape was inevitable throughout every prison and could not be prevented, and he furthered by explaining that homophobic prisoners still performed homosexual acts as an act of dominance. He later explains, that no matter how prison is explained or reworded, it is still simply humans being put in cages.
When looking at the prison system as a whole, it is hard to see anything other than a sustained record of failure. In reality, the prison was never truly meant as a response to crime, but a mechanism for the containment and control of a people.
This is a heavy section. Have you read any of the books mentioned?
ReplyDeleteIt was very heavy and hard to read, as much of the section was filled with excerpts from the books referenced. I have not yet been able to read beyond the excerpts as many of the books are now out of print, but I am currently attempting to find some of the titles through ThriftBooks!
DeleteGreat. Let me know if I can help you locate any resources.
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